MGT602 Business Decision Analytics: Clustering Techniques Report

This report analyzes business decision analytics using clustering techniques and Leximancer concept maps within a company setting. Scenario A focuses on using clustering to select members from R, D & D teams for a meeting, utilizing hierarchical clustering and considering rational, intuitive, and balanced decision-making processes. It emphasizes the importance of group decision support systems in facilitating effective collaboration. Scenario B explores the use of Leximancer to analyze qualitative data from employee interviews, identifying key themes such as management, customer, communication, focused open, and results, highlighting the significance of open communication in driving business success. The report provides recommendations based on these analyses, offering insights into optimizing team selection and communication strategies to enhance organizational performance. Desklib provides access to this and many other solved assignments.

MGT602
Business Decision Analytics
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Executive Summary
The ever-increasing demand for creating a unique brand has led to the growth of
innovative and creative concepts within the business world. The act of manufacturing a product
which would distinguish themselves from their rivals in a market where the differences are often
difficult to notice by demands a high level of creativity both in innovation and marketing is
required. The virtual teams will support the communication and physical existence with the help
of technology and membership of the virtual groups. The report is about the business decision
analytics of a company where two scenarios will be explained. Scenario A is about clustering
techniques for choosing the members to attend the meeting. Scenario B is about Leximancer
Concept map to find the link between the various concepts of the company.

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Main Context...............................................................................................................................................3
Discussion of Scenario A........................................................................................................................3
Discussion of Scenario B.........................................................................................................................6
Recommendations.......................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................11
References.................................................................................................................................................12
Appendices................................................................................................................................................14

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Introduction
The working atmosphere is continuously developing, and the companies are gradually
implementing new and innovative methods to bring different sets of people. In order to
overcome globalization, the companies are leading in the path of creating virtual teams. The
virtual teams are those teams where the members of the team work together in networked
environments. It will support the communication and physical existence with the help of
technology and membership of the virtual groups. The paper will evaluate two scenarios;
Scenario A will utilize clustering techniques to choose the members from the R, D & D teams for
attending the meeting. Scenario B will utilize Leximancer Concept map to find the link between
the various concepts.
Main Context
Discussion of Scenario A
Scenario A has been set up in the context of a medium-sized Australian company, whose
total number of employees is 800. 80 out of 800 employees are engaged in research,
development, and design (R, D & D) works. The company is actively eager to recognize the
innovative or creative skills of their RD&D employees and utilize their talents to bring
differences in their business, which would differ from their competitors. The company has
established a project to carry on research on the innovative or creative skills of R, D & D, which
are held tacitly by the employees while facilitating an unstructured communication. It had been
noted that tacit data could be best accessed and changed to knowledge by accessing the email-
based communication between the RD&D employees (Akinici & Sadler-Smith, 2012). The
emails of RD&D employees and their direction and rates of connectivity has been mapped
accordingly for a period of one week. The outcomes of this research audit can be observed on the
map of R, D & D, which had been designed on the basis on unstructured information and is
included in the emails of the employees of RD&D team.
Each employees and their workstation they are logged in are identified by the map of R,
D & D. The lines connecting various nodes shows the rates of connectivity and the lines
connecting into or out of nodes shows intensity and direction of traffic. The project will interpret
the map and decisions made to bring together for the discussion of the content and collaborate to

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make tacit unstructured data based on the emails explicit (Allred, Fawcett, Wallin & Magnan,
2011). Thus, it would be appropriate for the company for using it. Many meeting rooms would
be given to the employees of RD&D, along with a facilitator, visual aids and a group decision
support system, so that they could connect and review the outputs of the meeting room. A
group-based communication technology system would be utilized by the project in order to
support the meetings between the employees and help them to create tacit data explicitly (Al-
Dujaili, 2011). The resources available in each meeting room will help the group procedure and
make sure each member of the group has better collaboration with each other, and also with
groups of different meeting rooms for producing explicit information.
The table presents the clusters and nodes of six employees of the R, D & D team.
No Clusters Nodes Identified per Cluster
1 13 3
2 31 3
3 38 3
4 59 4
5 61 5
6 75 4
The table shows the key members of R, D & D who has been selected to attend the
meetings.
Rooms Clusters Key Members Selected to Attend
Meetings
A 1 Project Manager
B 2 Research Staff Member
C 3 Research Associate Member
D 4 Technical Staff Member

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E 5 Technician
F 6 Senior Research Associate
The type and size of each of the six clusters has been decided by rational decision making
process. The rational decision making process makes assumptions that people would take
decisions which will increase advantages and reduce any expenses. It also assumes that a person
had complete and perfect knowledge on the basis on which the decisions would be taken. It also
makes assumptions that a person has the skill, time and resources to analyze each alternative
compared to others (Bellinger, Castro & Mills, 2004). The clusters were selected by arranging a
group of numbers in the same group those who are similar to each other. The process utilized for
selecting clusters is hierarchical clustering, where the end-point is a group of clusters, where
each cluster is far from each cluster, and the nodes in each cluster are highly similar to one
another. A minimum connection has been used to select the key members for attending the
meeting and carry on the research analysis. The hierarchical clustering is the most useful process
of grouping.
The nodes have been chosen by recognizing the innovative or creative skills of their
RD&D employees and utilize their talents to bring differences in their business, which would
differ from their competitors — the skills of the employees' shows that tacit data could be best
accessed and changed to knowledge by accessing the email-based communication between the
RD&D employees. A group-based communication technology system would be utilized by the
project in order to support the meetings between the employees and help them to create tacit data
explicitly. A group-based communication technology system will help the key members to take
decisions as group which will lead to better decision process (Carton & Adam, 2016). In this
way, the key members of the meeting s have been chosen.
Dangling nodes has not been included in the research analysis because dangling nodes
signifies that each node is disconnected from each other. The decision has been taken by utilizing
the intuition decision making process. Intuition decision style is that style which is natural,
biased and subconscious in nature. This type of decision style are less structured and consists of
emotions and perceptions more than the evaluation and facts. Intuition decision making is far
more than utilizing common sense, as it includes extra sensors for perception and information

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awareness from external sources. It is utilized to remove nodes from the cluster, and no nodes
have been removed in this scenario (Sadler-Smith & Shefy, 2004). Every node is connected with
one another, and so dangling nodes has not been included in the analysis.
The decision to include the unconnected nodes has been taken by using the balanced
decision making method. The balanced decision making provides opportunity for better
intellectual contribution in the decision making method. It also gives opportunity for higher
commitment for executing the decision after it has been taken. The decision maker are not
removed from the responsibility of taking the correct decision by balanced decision making. It
just offers more support for the decision making process (Wierenga, 2011). Unconnected nodes
have been included in the clusters as they help to recognize the employees of R, D & D team and
make a more direct process for them. Although unconnected nodes are not needed in most cases,
in this case, it is necessary as the task is to choose the key members for the meeting, and they
will make their work easier.
The aim of clustering is to decrease the amount of information by grouping the same
nodes. The two R, D & D employees like the research staff member and research associate
member are chosen, as they are close with one another and their work is also connected with
each other. So, they have been chosen to attend the meeting. Many meeting rooms would be
given to the employees of RD&D, along with a facilitator, visual aids and a group decision
support system, so that they could connect and review the outputs of the meeting room. Group
decision support system (GDSS) is a computer based process which helps the decision makers of
the organization, those who are working in group to solve their issues which are unstructured in
nature. GDSS will help to improve the quality and efficiency of the group meetings of the key
members of the R, D & D team (Dhami & Thomson, 2012). In GDSS meeting, each member of
the team is given a computer, and the computers are connected with one another, to the
facilitator’s computer and file server. Both the facilitator and the members could digitally project
their messages and images on the screen. GDSS meeting includes various phases and these
phases are controlled by the facilitator. These phases could consists of generating ideas,
discussion and voting.

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Discussion of Scenario B
Scenario B has been evolved around a wide service based company of Australia and
whose headquarter is situated in the city of Melbourne, Australia. The company has almost 200
service employees with ten service centers, and they report to 40 managers. The company is
interested in deciding the levels of service support given by their employees. In order to carry on
their business, they have introduced a project to capture the responsibilities of the service person
and recognize the perceived support given by the management. The number of telephonic and
face-to-face interviews had been carried on across field staff and management, and then the
results are recorded (Choo, 2000). The recorded stories of the individuals which have been
captured in the interviews have been conducted by Leximancer map, which is a qualitative
analysis tool and which helps to make sense of the vast amount of information.
In this case, Leximancer concept map shows the result by sorting a large amount of
qualitative information from unstructured interviews held with employees across the service-
based company of Australia. The map shows six themes, and they are management, customer,
communication, focused open and results. Each balloon is connected with other balloons, and it
signifies that all the balloons have some connections with each other in carrying the business.
The communication balloon has two components, work, and team. It shows that both group and
work are connected with communication so that the work proceeds systematically. The map
demonstrates that all the balloons that are the management, customer, open and results are all
linked with the communication balloon (Eisenbess, Knippenberg & Fahrbach, 2015). Thus, it
shows communication plays a significant function as it is a vital tool of a successful business.
Communication between the team members is necessary for all the companies to better
performance.
The employees of the field services have communicated with one another in open
communication, by sending emails, face-to-face interaction, interacting at the time of training,
utilizing simple words and body language. All these aspects have helped to take correct decisions
and helped the company to carry on their business and improve their performance and increase
their productivity (Olsson & Walker, 2003). The open communication among the employees of
field suggests that they take group decisions for the benefit of their team. Group decision are
made in supportive business conditions where the team members are open for suggestions.

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The employees of the field services communicate mostly with the management team and
other members of the group of the company. The communication is wholly related to business
processes in order to achieve the goal. Here also group decision making process is applicable as
the employees of the field services team and management team take decisions on the information
gathered by the team members (Heshmat, 2016).
There is no high level of communication between the managers and the customers
because the customers generally interact with the employees about the needs and demands. It is
also because the customers are not directly linked with the managers to tell them about their
needs. Thus, there is a low level of communication between the managers and the customers.
Here individual decision making method is applicable as the level of communication between the
customers and managers is solely decided by the managers, as there is no direct connection
between them and it is based on limited information collected by the managers.
The support availability is essential to carry on the business in the company. It also gives
technical support to the customers according to their needs. The resources available to the
customers has proven that it is useful for the company, as it efficiently fulfills the demands of the
customers (Morales-Sa´nchez & Cabello-Medina, 2013). The Leximancer concept map has
shown a high level of support available to the customers.
There is open communication between the field employees and the management. The
management and the field employees openly communicate about the main problems of the
company and take an appropriate decision for the benefit of the company (Thomas, 2014). If the
communication between the field employees and management is not open, then it might have an
effect on the decision-making procedures of the company.
The nature of results communicated by field employees is on the basis of efficient
communication. Efficient communication helps to improve the performance of the works and
also helps to achieve the targets of the company. As a result, the company will get positive
outcomes for their business.
Managers play an essential role in communicating results so they could carry on their
primary functions of management like planning, leading, organizing and managing.
Communication helps the managers to carry on their tasks and duties.

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Utilizing the results of the analysis, it has been found that the managers are not
sufficiently customer facing for introducing an incentive payment system for the customers. It is
due to the fact the managers are not equipped with adequate funding capacity to give an
incentive payment system to its customers. The managers have to take balance decision so that
they clear the confusion that they are not customer facing for introducing an incentive payment
system not due to their instability. It is due to fact that they does not have sufficient funds (Ho &
Ramon, (n.d.).
The results of the analysis present that in spite of difficulties that both the management
and the field service team, are working together to reach to their customers and fulfill their
demands. Both the sides are equally significant for the company to carry on business effectively
(Metcalfe, 2010). So, the company has to use the concepts of both the management and the field
service team, to conduct their business successfully. According to me, if I would the manager,
my shadow type would have been applicable in this situation, as I am an outspoken person who
is not shy to face the difficulties and would have concentrate on the current situations. As I have
realized that I have the logical decisions making style, after completing the intuition, logic and
balance test, I would have taken decision on the basis of my logic, irrespective of the
circumstances and aspects. Logical decision makers are good at leadership.
According to me, customer-service communication could be changed towards greater
openness. After I have realized that I have the logical decisions making style, after completing
the intuition, logic and balance test and after evaluating the problems, I does not trust my
hunches. So my logical decision makes me realize that greater openness to communication
would help the customers their concepts and concerns more openly.
Recommendations
 The management of the company has to carry on their operation correctly so that they
could achieve their goals. Instead of hierarchical clustering method, the company could select
soft clustering process to choose their critical members for attending the meeting. In soft
clustering, each node of the clusters is put in a single group for the customers.
 The management has to maintain a good relationship with each concept of the
Leximancer concept map. Each idea has to keep a direct connection with each other for better

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performance. If they do not maintain a good relation, then it might have an adverse effect on all
the concepts.
 A high level of communication has to be maintained between the managers and the
customers as communication with customers helps in identifying the needs of the customers in
order to satisfy their demand.
 The managers always have to ready with better concepts and solutions to any issues of
the company. The team members could also go to the managers with new ideas and solutions or
improve the current policies of the company. The manager has to analyze the concepts from
every angle, particularly from the viewpoint of the organization.

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Conclusion
The paper had discussed about two scenarios, Scenario A and Scenario B. Scenario A is
about the usage of the clustering process, and Scenario B is about Leximancer concept map. The
virtual teams are significant in the current business world for better performance of the company.
The significance of virtual team management takes the primary function when it is needed to
manage the efforts and time of remote workforces. The virtual workers have a direct impact of
the decision making of the management of the company. The management has maintained good
relations with the other team members for carrying out the business effectively.

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References
Akinici, C., & Sadler-Smith, E. (2012). Intuition in Management Research: A historical
Review. International Journal of Management Review, Vol 14, 1-54
Al-Dujaili, M. (2011). The role of knowledge systems in the corporate decision-making
process: An empirical investigation. Chemical Transactions, 25, 489-494
Allred, C.R., Fawcett, S.E., Wallin, C., & Magnan, G.M. (2011). A Dynamic Collaboration
Capability as a source of Competitive Advantage. Decision Sciences. Volume 42,
Bellinger, G., Castro, D., & Mills, A. (2004) Systems Thinking. Data, Information,
Knowledge, and Wisdom.
Carton, F. & Adam, F. (2016). A Business Value Oriented Approach to Decision Support
System. Journal of Decision Systems, vol. 25
Choo, C.W. (2000). Working with knowledge: How Information Professionals help
organizations manage what they know. Library Management, 21 (8), 395-403
Dhami, M.K. & Thomson, M.E. (2012). On the Relevance of Cognitive Continuum Theory
and Quasi rationality for Understanding Management judgement and Decision
Making. European Management Journal, 30, 316-326
Eisenbess, S.S., Knippenberg, D, V., & Fahrbach, C.M. (2015). Doing Well by Doing Good:
Analyzing the relationship between CEO Ethical Leadership and Firm Performance. Journal
of Business Ethics, 128, 635-651.Springer
Heshmat, S. (2016). Ten Ideas for Wise Decision Making. Psychology Today. Retrieved
from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/201605/10-ideas-wise-
decision-making
Ho, T.H & Ramon, K.S. (n.d.). The Effect of GDSS and Elected Leadership on Small Group
Meetings. Journal of Management Information Systems. Pages 109-133
Metcalfe. B. (2010). An investigation of female and male constructs of leadership and
empowerment. Organizational Psychology. Emerald. Vol.25. No. 8. Pp 640 – 618

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Morales-Sa´nchez, R. & Cabello-Medina, C. (2013). The Role of Four Universal Moral
Competencies in Ethical Decision Making. J Bus Ethics (2013) 116:717–734.
Olsson, S., & Walker, R. (2003). Through a Gendered Lens: Male and Female Executives’
Representations of One another. Leadership and Management Development Journal. 24/7,
2003, 387-396.
Sadler-Smith, E. & Shefy, S. (2004). The intuitive Executive: Understanding and applying
‘gut feel’ in decision making. Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 18, No. 4, 76-91
Thomas, D. (2014). Searching for Significance in Unstructured Data: Text Mining with
Leximancer. European Educational Research Journal Volume 13 Number 2. Retrieved from
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2304/eerj.2014.13.2.235
Wierenga, B. (2011). Managerial decision making in marketing: The next research frontier.
International Journal of Marketing, 28, 89-101.

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Appendices
Scenario A
Figure 1: (Assessment 3 Scenario A Data)

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Scenario B
Figure 2: (Assessment 3 Scenario B Data)